Blog Improvements, Any Ideas?

Last updated: Mar 26, 2008

Well, over the past few days I have implemented new features and made many modifications to this blog. Below are the following changes and impovements that I thought may interest you. I also want to hear your thoughts on the current changes and future improvements to the blog.

Enhancements

  • WordPress Update. Upgraded blog to newest version of WordPress.

  • Site Search. Changed the site search feature back to WordPress. I had originally used Google site search and I had found that it hadn’t added much value while taking vistitors into a third party unfamiliar site. One alternative I had tried was Google’s CSE (Custom Search Engine). This allows you to have the search results embedded into your site; however, due to the layout of the site the results were bunched together and it displayed too much white space near the bottom.

  • Comments. Added code to make author comments stand out from regular comments.

  • Random Page. Using a nifty little plugin there are now links at the bottom of each post that will take you to a random article.

  • Code in Posts. I added a much better system for displaying code in posts. It includes line numbers and color syntax.

  • Text Color. The text color throughout the entire site is now a slightly darker shade of grey for readability.

New

  • Donate. By request I added a page for people that would like to contribute to this site by donating.

  • Advertising. After many months the advertising on the sidebar has only recieved a handful of clicks so I changed it from a text ad to an image ad. If this advertisement continues to provide minimal results I will consider removing it entirely.

To Do

  • Trackback Toggleing. After reading this article, I decied I am going to implent a link to hide/show trackbacks in comments to minimize on the space they take up and the distraction they make on the discussion that takes place.

  • 404. I am going to create a more informational 404 page. So my readers may find lost posts that they were looking or mis typed/linked urls.

  • New Comment Notification. I am considering implementing a way for readers to be notified when there are new comments in a post they themselves have commented on. This my be via email or RSS feed.

Suggestions?

Since this site is for you, the readers. I want to know what you think. Please write in with suggestions for things you love, things you want removed or anything else you can think of. I value your comments and suggestions and would love to hear them. So, please let me know what else I can do to make the site better for you.

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